I'm weighing up surgery on my thumb joints

Great news Bru. Thanks for the info. I found a group in Sydney that do it. I just visited their website. I haven't called them yet. 

Trouble is they only do people, not horses. 😉

Cheers

I am so pleased to hear of the success of your treatment Bru - great outcome.  Just very sad that effective treatment such as this is denied us in the UK.  Was it 'painfully' expensive?  I've been saving for a long time to possibly cover the cost of private medical treatment for my OA (thumbs, ankle, neck) as there are so many very effective options not involving major invasive surgery available that we in the UK are denied access to.  It is rather annoying that veterinary treatment options are so much better than those offered to us mere humans eh!

Hi Loxie.

It wasn't cheap partly because you need to stay in Düsseldorf for a couple of weeks to complete the course of intra articular injections. It was about €7000 for the treatment and as far as I remember if you are having more than one joint/area treated then it's about one third of that for each additional joint. I had to weigh up the cost of loss of earnings in the long term, or shorter term if I had the surgery and it was successful not to mention losing possibly a year of my life to rehabilitation. On balance this was the better cheaper option.

I have been speaking to some medical colleagues who already use prp in cosmetic treatments as they effectively have the equipment required already apart from the incubator. They are looking into necessary licensing and training for this and I will update this discussion as and when I have any more information. Despite speaking to several orthopaedic consultants and rheumatologists (NHS) I haven't found anyone yet who's even prepared to consider it - they like to stick with what they've always done, that is to say nothing; NSAIDS; or surgery 😕So if anyone takes it on it will be private but at least won't mean the additional cost of travelling to Düsseldorf + accommodation etc.

If I needed to I would certainly have this treatment again - for me it's certainly preferable to surgery of which I've had a lot.

Thank you for the info Bru.  I have to consider all options - if I continue to become more and more disabled by this, I will lose my job so will be in dire straits anyhow.  If I have invasive and 'destructive' surgery, I think that the long recovery time and restricted abilities afterwards will also mean I'll be unemployed/unemployable.  Spending a lot on private treatment that could prolong my working life and quality of life could in the end be money well spent therefore. Thank you again

Basal joint surgery must be different from the CMC joint thumb arthroplasty I had where they remove the trapezium joint? Going from a splint into a cast seems like overkill? How will you do exercises?  

I am 7 weeks post op from joint removal on the left thumb. Already having OA in it I also fractured and displaced the thumb bone into that joint. My surgeon called it "a war zone" many bone peices to pick out before recontructing the tendens. Recovery has been long and hard so far. I had no idea full recovery (or what will be considered full) would take as long as I am finding out. 6-12 months, as I have seen many others mention. Right hand has to be done before it results in a more tramatic way, but I will be waiting until I have alot more use of the left one before I proceed.

I need surgery on both thumbs but as my left is the worst going for that one & having my surgery at the end of the school summer term, July, as I teach musical instruments in schools. Not sure if I will be up to going back at the start of the next academic year in September but will worry about that later!

Like you I'm going to see how recovery goes with the left side before opting for the other side.sy keep act that anothet year if I can.

Wishing you a good recovery.

I teach elementary special ed. Had to miss the last 2 months of this school year and will probably not get to start the next.

I now work as a self employed teacher so have opted to have surgery at the end of term so I can see pupils through music exams etc.

Schools in the U.K. restart at the beginning of September so it will depend if I'm driving by then, even if I can't use left hand well for playing. I'm having non dominant hand done first as that is the most damaged, but in instrumental playing both hands are equal.

I've been putting this off but I need to gain some quality of life back & be able to use my hands again. It's the start of the long journey as I will still need the other hand doing at some point.

I decided to try the anaesthetic/cortisone injections one more time .....had them done on Friday 2nd June 2017 ...having had these guided injections before I knew how painful they can be and because of similar injections in shoulders I also know about the steroid flare after getting them ...

again very painful ...but kept on with painkillers .....strangely I got no steroid flare, but thumbs are still as painful as ever ..someone on here mention a thumb splint called Push ....apparently good reviews ...I have googled them and really shocked at the cost ....anything from £46 to over £80 just for one hand 😳 .....has anyone found them any cheaper in U.K. ...? I use a neoprene thumb support which is really cumbersome and stops me doing a lot of things ...

really not happy with going fir the op, but I will discuss this with the surgeon when I go back in around 6 weeks time ....

Val ......

I can understand your frustration, I am now 5 months since the operation, and pretty well all pain gone.  Still building up strength, but I have probably 80% use now and getting better by the day.  My left thumb is the problem child and it is next to be done.  For me at least it is a blessing having a virtual pain free thumb joint.  I still get the occasional twinge but they are few and far between and getting less all the time.

Have used brace just like PUSH but different material, probably why mine was 1/2 the price. Not only found it cumbersome but made the pain worse, seems to push in the thumb probably to where it should be, but agonizing. Probably would work after the thumb has been correctly lined up after surgery, for support. See surgeon this wk. to schedule surgery. Not looking forward to it but don't know what else to try. Have lost a lot of use of right and now experiencing beginning pain in the left. 

 

Your post gives me hope! I'm willing to put in the time/rehab as long as I can get my hand back.

I get such bad flare from cortisone plus little relief that they decided it wasn't worht trying again. I have 2 sorts of splints :- one that I had years ago from physio,  called a thumb spica. This one doesn't allow much movement but supports thumb. Makes my tumbs ache now I have arthritis. The others are neoprene which I got form Amazon and the idea was I could use them for day to day things, like driving, carrying shopping and even playing my instruments. I can cope with one on the right hand for a while but if I wear it on the left it really makes my hand and then my arm ache. I don't wear either of them much now as they didn't give any relief, but are maybe ok if I need to keep my thumbs still. The 2nd surgeon I saw said that they were probably not of much use to me really, and just kept the thumb still. 

I've noticed that I'm getting a lot of aches across the back of my shoulders and often "heavy" arms so think it must be down to how I'm trying to cope with bad thumbs/wrists. My op for first hand is 6 weeks on Thursday and I must admit I just want to get it done now as I'm fed up of not being able to do stuff!

I hope that your steroid kicks in this week and you get some relief. I know it can take a while sometimes. 

I agree, wearing the splints does make the pain worse! 

Good to hear this. I know it can be a long process and most of us have both hands that need attention but at least you are doing well with the first one. Hoping that I can get to where you are so quickly after surgery 

One has to realise it is a fairly complex surgery and the rehab can take a long time. If it is done by a competent surgeon, there should not be any major issues.  Yes it is painful, but unlike before the op, the pain actually improves with time to the point that it virtually is non existant. I tried all the other options, injections, gelatin etc and for me they did absolutely nothing. I figured that having the op was really all that I could do short of removing my hand, and that really is not an option, that is how bad the pain was becoming.  The first week is probably the worst as getting used to the hand being in the cast took some getting used to, but I was looking at the big picture, and for me it has worked, I am pretty well back to normal, as I said, I have the occasional twinge, and they are diminishing as well. The key think is to be patient after the op and do the exercises, it does work.  I know some people have had issues, and it is understandable, as with all surgeries there is always an element of risk.

If I put the palms of both hands together now, it is so obvious how much swelling there is in my left thumb joint compared to the right. It is no wonder this causes so much pain. 

Thanks for the update. Like you, I'm looking at the bigger picture & need to get the use of my hands back as much as is possible. I know it's a long journey, and that is why I didn't go for surgery last year but as my use has diminished then I know this is the only route. I have seen 2 eminent hand specialists, different areas of the UK, & both said trapeziectomy was the only solution for me. As an instrumental music teacher, as well as a keen crafter, I need to do this!

I've had surgeries before that have long recoveries ( FAI hip impingements on both sides, knee surgery, etc) so I know that patience & dedication to exercises is vital.

There are risks with everything but sometimes you just have to do it.

6 weeks & counting for my op as I need to finish the school term & teaching commitments first.

I wish you a continued recovery ;-)

Good luck with the surgery, I trust it works nicely..

I go to a surgeon at a local private hospital who will also take some NHS patients ..he did my shoulder almost a year ago ...that was much more complex than the thumb one ..he was amazed at my quick recovery ...stated usually 6 months to a year .....I had complete normal movement and no pain as such in two weeks ....even the physio discharged me after one visit ....but, the big but, he said thumb op is fairly simple compared to the shoulder one, but he cannot guarantee I will have the same recovery and has to be in a cast for 4 weeks ...I can't be doing that (many reasons) ...and have read far too much just lately about things getting worse ...have ordered a push brace so will see how it goes ...usually I get relief from the cortisone injections very quickly, but just not this time 😕